Two groups representing Asian and Native American businesses want the city to change its definition of minority back to its original wording so that they can be eligible for the Small, Disadvantaged, Minority and Women Owned Business (SDMWOB) program.

Asian and Native Americans were dropped from the city’s “minority” definition last fall.

Steve Rao and Tony Hayes, representing the Council of American Minority Professionals and the North Carolina Indian Economic Development Initiative, respectively, asked the city council this month to reinstate the two groups to the program.

Last year the city council voted unanimously and without debate to go with a 2009 North Carolina Department of Transportation disparity study that did not include Asian and Native Americans in its definition for disadvantaged business programs.